Dues Increase Angers Union Members

April 09, 1989|By A.J. PLUNKETT Staff Writer

Monthly dues for Steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding are about to increase 12.5 percent, and many union members are not happy about it.

The increase, which affects all 600,000 members of the International Steelworkers of America across the country, means union dues increase from about two hours pay to roughly 2 1/4 hours pay per month.

The average hourly wage at the shipyard is $10.50. A worker earning that amount would be paying union dues of $21 a month before the increase; after the increase, that worker's dues would be $23.66.

Local 8888 members should see their dues go up sometime this month or early next month.

The shipyard has more than 17,500 union-eligible workers, and the union will say only that more than 50 percent of those are dues-paying members.

While it is the first Steelworkers dues increase in 20 years, the action has angeredmany local members.

"Most everybody in the union is perturbed about it, because they haven't got anybody a raise in four years," said Frances Barbrey, a rigger in department S-36 who will be eligible to get out of the union this month.

"As a matter of fact, they're getting out in droves," said Steve Guajardo, a former yard grievance representative for the union who also is eligible to get out this month.

"I personally know 60 to 90 people that want to get out," said another union member who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. "There's a real high sentiment at the yard that they're being taken for a ride."

Under union rules, a member can cancel his or her membership only during the seven days before or after the member's anniversary date of joining. Union dues are taken out automatically by the shipyard's payroll office.

A certified letter canceling membership must be received by the union and the company during that 15-day window, or dues will continue to be taken out of a member's paycheck until the next anniversary date.

Local 8888 President Russell Axsom said that only a handful of members have left the union in recent months in response to the anticipated dues increase.

"Several people have come up wanting to get out, saying their dues were going up $50 or some exhorbitant amount, but after it's explained, then the majority of those people said, `OK, I was misinformed,' and they stay," Axsom said.

Before the increase, members' dues were set at two hours per 4 weeks of work, which works out to dues of 1.155 percent of their monthly pay. Since the dues are deducted according to the percentage, overtime pay is also figured into dues each month.

Dues go to pay for operations at both a national and local level.

Some local members have said the furor over the dues increase has been fueled by the union's seeming reluctance to tell members their anniversary dates.

Axsom said some members have been calling the union offices asking for their anniversary dates, but that the union cannot reveal the dates over the telephone because of privacy laws.

Some members said, however, that union members who come to the hall to get his or her anniversary date in person often get the runaround.

One member said he tried unsuccessfully to go through several union avenues to find his anniversary date; eventually he got it from the company's personnel office.

While Axsom said few people have left over the dues increase, other union members said many have said they plan to get out of the union as soon as their anniversary dates arrive.

Barbrey said she will be able to get out of the union this month. Her husband, William, also in department S-36, already has left, she said.

Of the 12 men and women in her work gang, Barbrey said, 10 were union members and half of those have gotten out of the union or are awaiting their anniversary dates.

Guajardo said seven of the eight union members in his work gang have already quit the Steelworkers.

"People have just had enough," Guajardo said. "It's turning into a business and they're getting away from helping the people."

"There's a lot of people down there who are really dissatisfied with the way the union is doing them," said another Steelworker who asked not to be identified.

"They're not really accomplishing anything at all for the average worker," he said. "The people down at the yard, on the waterfront, aren't getting any kind of benefit at all."

"As a matter of fact, we lost in the last contract," the Steelworker said.

Some members said that while the union dues are going up, the last contract signed by the union in 1987 had fewer medical benefits, contained just one 3 percent raise over a four-year period and two bonuses.

Axsom said it is a lack of membership that detracts from the union's strength and leads to weak contracts.

One of the main goals of his term, Axsom said, is to build up the membership to shore up the local's position when contract talks come up again in two years, Axsom said.